From Part-Time Consulting Project To Full-Time Work

By Kevin Hudson

Kevin Hudson spent almost four years at ServiceMaster as an IT finance director. When the company relocated to Memphis in January 2008, Mr. Hudson, 52, decided not to move. Previously, Mr. Hudson worked as an independent IT consultant and spent 21 years at Ameritech. He lives in Oak Lawn, a suburb of Chicago, with his wife and has three children.

One of the readers of my missives asked recently if I had any regrets about my decision not to relocate to Memphis. I can say unequivocally that I have none. Even if I had known about the upcoming recession at the end of 2007, I would have made the same choice. Moving was never an option due to family obligations.

As longtime readers of this blog may recall, there were two members of my household who were unemployed. As I wrote about last March, my daughter Katie searched for a teaching position after graduating from college, but remained unemployed. Perhaps it would be more correct to say that I was underemployed since I was doing part-time consulting that brought in some income.

That situation changed recently when both of us landed a job, and on the same afternoon. Katie will be teaching English for a semester at a high school that is not too far away. She is filling in for another teacher who will soon be on maternity leave. Katie is hopeful that this opportunity will lead to something more permanent, but at the very least, it will provide her with some much needed experience.

I was offered, and accepted, a full-time position at the company where I have been working as an external consultant this past year. As the project has picked up momentum in the past couple of months. I was indeed expecting that this full-time opportunity might arise. I will now have the opportunity to see the team’s efforts to fruition as a consultant for this services company. The work is similar to what I’ve done in my last several jobs and will be in the IT arena. I will also be able to work from home with occasional travel to the company site in Ohio.

As with a high percentage of job landings, this opportunity came about through networking. Someone I used to work with at ServiceMaster, and who also decided not to relocate to Memphis in 2007, gave me a call a year ago and asked if I could assist his organization on a project. I continued my job search while working as a consultant because it was part-time and it was never a given that it would lead to something full-time. As it turns out, it did.

Readers, have you landed full-time work through consulting? Share your stories in the comments section.

Comments (5 of 17)

Great post. As many of your readers have pointed out, working as a consultant for a company allows great insight into whether this is the kind of company you'd want to work for.

It's a two way road. The client gets to test you out and see whether you can deliver results - and if you can and if they're smart - they'll make you an offer to join the company, often with a salary that could seem at first, incredibly attractive.

For most consultants, what is most attractive is the 'stability' full time work provides...and how the pay checks come in at the same time every 2 or 4 weeks.

However, consultants should give this some real thought. Clearly snapping up a full-time job isn't always the smartest move. Your freedom disappears, your salary is quite often capped, and you're no longer the boss - all the reasons a consultant becomes one in the first place.

A strategy used by many that I often recommend is partnering with your client for the long-term. An annual contract by where you partner up and work with your client to help them build their business. In return you get a stake of equity, or more common, a percentage of all revenue generated - if you're in the revenue generating business. This can work out very well financially, and you still get to keep the freedom and feeling of being independent.

I have enjoyed your blog entries and I have benefitted from them also.

Best of luck in your new position..

9:09 am August 27, 2009

Portia wrote :

Consulting may not lead to a permanent position at the company who hires you, but it does keep one out inthe marketplace. I found in my gig that

1. I knew after one day I would not want a position in this co if one were offered.
2. I acquired a corporate email address and the ability to access a lot of free and important technical websites and updates to keep me current.
3. I regained confidence that I do have something to offer an employer, and have expanded my network.
4. I am filling in some months on the resume.
5. I get paid while being completely free to look for a permanent position openly.

12:56 am August 27, 2009

to financial samurai wrote :

You've no real, sincere reason to congratulate everyone on all the blogs you visit: it's you're free adertising for your web page. You could care less about them. See right through you--another 20 somthing blogger who is full himself for sure.

Biographies

Steve McConaughey, was the director of marketing for the service division of Siemens Healthcare, until his position was eliminated in November 2008 after five years with the company. Previously, Mr. McConaughey, 50, worked for three software and networking startup companies in Silicon Valley and North Carolina. He earned an M.B.A. from University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business in 1990. He lives with his wife and son in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Angela Dorsey,was a panel operations manager for comScore, Inc., a marketing research company, until her job was eliminated in October 2009 after more than a year with the company. Previously, Ms. Dorsey, 38, was a senior program manager for Blackboard, Inc., an e-learning technology software provider. She earned an M.B.A. and M.S. in e-commerce from the University of Maryland, University College in August 2005 and December 2007, respectively. She lives with her husband in Alexandria, Virginia.

Henry Chalian,was a relationship manager at J.P. Morgan before his job was eliminated in May 2009 after seven years with the company. Mr. Chalian, 41, received a masters degree from the London School of Economics in 1995 and is currently completing a certificate of business excellence at Columbia Business School. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Kevin Mergens,was a product manager for ADP Dealer Services. His job was eliminated in June 2009. Previously, Mr. Mergens, 40, was a marketing manager at Littlelfuse. He earned an M.B.A. from Michigan State University ’s Broad School of Management in 1993. Mr. Mergens lives with his wife and three children in Niles, Ill.

Kevin Chenoweth,was previously a senior consultant with Deloitte Consulting. His position was eliminated in April 2009 after more than a year with the firm. Prior to that, Mr. Chenoweth, 39, was a consultant with Lucidity Consulting group. He earned an M.B.A. from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in 1993. He lives in Denver.

Brent Humphries,was a technical project manager at the Iowa Foundation for Medical Care. His position was eliminated in June 2009, after five years with the nonprofit. Previously, he worked as an IT contractor for various financial services companies. Mr. Humphries, 37, earned a part-time MBA from the University of Iowa in 2009. He lives in Des Moines, Iowa.

John Brownrigg was a senior manager at Corporex Companies LLC, a real-estate development company. Mr. Brownrigg, 54, was laid off in August 2008 after almost two years with the company. Previously, he worked on commercial real estate and construction projects for General Electric, Ericsson and the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. He earned an M.B.A. from University of Texas Austin in 1984. He lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, with his wife and two children.

Geoff Hibner lost his position as CFO of Banta Corp. when
the company was sold to a larger competitor in 2007. Previously, he was an independent consultant as well as a senior vice president and
CFO at Timberland Co. Mr. Hibner earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1977. He lives with his wife in Neenah, Wis., and has
two adult children.

F. Ellen Whaley spent over 11 years at Aetna Inc., most recently
as an operations CFO. Her position was eliminated in 2001. Previously, Ms. Whaley, 54, was a management consultant.
She's now looking to re-enter the job market after an eight-year hiatus. She earned an M.B.A.
from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Lally School of Management and Technology in 1983.
She lives with her family in Essex, Conn.

Jon Gray was manager of planning and analysis at Xsigo
Systems, a San Jose technology start-up. He was laid off in November 2008, after almost two years with the company.
Previously, Mr. Gray, 34, spent seven years in various finance roles at Symantec Corp., a security software maker. Mr. Gray earned his
M.B.A. in 2006 from INSEAD. He lives in Los Gatos, Calif.

Dawn Jordan's position as an operations vice president at
Bank of America was eliminated in late October. Ms. Jordan, 39, previously worked at Countrywide Financial as vice president of customer
retention. Ms. Jordan received an M.B.A. from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California in 2008. She
lives in Laguna Beach, Calif.

Laid Off Alumni

Christopher Janc, was most recently a senior vice president at Madison Capital Funding LLC, a leveraged debt provider to middle market private equity firms. He spent seven years at the company and was laid off in January 2009. Mr. Janc, 41, spent the previous seven years with three other middle market financial services firms. He earned an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 2000. He lives with his wife and two kids in Elmhurst, Ill. a suburb of Chicago. After a ten-month job search, Mr. Janc landed a wealth management position with J.P. Morgan.

Kevin Hudson spent almost four years at ServiceMaster as
an IT finance director. When the company relocated to Memphis earlier in 2008, Mr. Hudson, 52, decided not to move. He received an
M.B.A. from the Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management in 1984. Mr. Hudson lives in Oak Lawn, Ill., a suburb of Chicago.
After a 19-month job search, Mr. Hudson's yearlong part-time assignment turned into a full-time consulting position.

Heidi Mannetter was a senior marketing strategist at
Principal Financial Group Inc. before her position was eliminated in June. Ms. Mannetter, 33, was with the financial-services provider
for three years. She earned an M.B.A. from the University of Iowa's Tippie School of Management in 2006, and lives in Des Moines, Iowa.
After a ten-week job search, Ms. Mannetter landed a marketing manager position for Kemin Food Ingredients

Kerry Sanderson was manager of community relations at Jobing.com before her position was eliminated in March 2009. Ms. Sanderson, 43, was previously director of employer relations and business development at Thunderbird School of Global Management. She earned an M.B.A. at Rice University’s Jones School of Global Business in 2000. She lives in Scottsdale, Ariz.
After an eight-month job search, Ms. Sanderson now works in account management for an e-commerce company.

Prakash Nagpal was the vice president of products at Sylantro Systems Corp. before his position was eliminated in late 2008. Previously, Mr Nagpal, 42, was a general manager of products at Covad Communications Group, Inc. He earned his M.B.A. from Cornell University's Johnson School in 2000. He lives in Oakland, Calif. with his wife and two children.
After more than six months of searching, Mr. Nagpal is now involved in carrier marketing at Actelis Networks.

Kenneth Jones was laid off in March 2009 from Nortel Networks Corp. where he worked as a services product line manager. Mr. Jones, 43, spent 11 years at the company with roles in IT operations, software development, business development and product management. Mr. Jones earned an M.B.A. from the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler School of Business in 2003. He lives with his wife and two children in Chapel Hill, N.C.
After a seven-month job search, Mr. Jones landed a product management role at Elster Intergrated Solutions.

Joel Friedman was eliminated from his position as
the vice president of enterprise technology at the First Horizon National Corp. in May 2009. He spent 13 years with the company.
Previously, Mr. Friedman, 40, worked as a call center and sales team manager at Budget Rent A Car, now owned by Avis Budget Group, Inc.
He received an Executive M.B.A. from the Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business in 2006. He lives in McKinney, Texas.
After a three month job search, Mr. Friedman landed a position as the chief information officer at Century Payments, a payment processing company.

Rachel Levy worked as marketing director at the Jewish
Community Centers of Greater Boston before her position was eliminated in July 2008. She previously held brand management positions at
Kraft Foods Inc. and Jim Beam Brands Co. Ms. Levy, 37, received an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in
1998. She lives in Boston.
A year later, Ms. Levy was offered a director of marketing and social media position at Second Time Around, a Boston-based consignment store chain.

Michael Crehan, 54, spent the last eight years as a senior
vice president at Lehman Brothers in the ratings advisory group - until March 2008. Mr. Crehan also spent 14 years at Standard & Poor's.
He earned an M.B.A. from Babson College in 1982 and lives in Fairfield, Conn.
Seventeen months after his layoff, Mr. Crehan accepted a career development position at the University of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business.

Amanda Sundt, 35, was a senior marketing manager at Orbitz
Worldwide Inc. Her position was eliminated in early November. Previously she held marketing positions at Upshot, a Chicago-based
advertising agency, and Allstate Insurance Corporation. Ms. Sundt received an M.B.A. from DePaul University Kellstadt School of
Business. She lives in Chicago with her husband and son. After four months of unemployment, Ms. Sundt recently started a new
marketing position at iExplore, a Chicago-based adventure travel website.

Brian Murphy spent a year as an associate in Bear Stearns'
investment banking division until the firm collapsed. Mr. Murphy, 35, is searching for restructuring or turnaround management jobs and
divides his time between California and New York. He has an M.B.A. from USC's Marshall School and spent nearly 10 years in the Marine
Corps, serving two deployments in Iraq, and one in Afghanistan. After eight months of unemployment, he recently started a new
investment banking position in New York.

Karen Reid spent the last six years at Citigroup Inc. Her
position as the vice president of global corporate banking was eliminated in June. Ms. Reid, 38, is now looking for a corporate finance
position. She earned an M.B.A. from the University of California-Los Angeles Anderson School of Management in 2002. She lives in
Atlanta. After six months of unemployment, Ms. Reid started a finance position for a medical communications company.

Matthew Vuturo, 27, worked as a strategic planning manager
at VR Mergers & Acquisitions, a Tampa, Fla. -based firm. He was downsized in early 2008. Mr. Vuturo earned an M.B.A. from the University
of South Florida in 2005. After job searching for more than a year, Mr. Vuturo landed a position as the new director of sales and
marketing at GPI Prototype & Manufacturing Services, Inc. a Lake Bluff, Ill.-based contract manufacturer.

Spencer Cutter was a senior vice president at Lehman Brothers
Holdings Inc., working in the leveraged finance group. After nine years with the firm, Mr. Cutter was laid off in the
spring of 2008. Mr. Cutter, 40, earned an M.B.A. from UCLA's Anderson School in 1998. He lives in New York. In July 2009,
Mr. Cutter started a business-development position at Bloomberg LP.

Karina Diaz Cano was a consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers
in Washington D.C. Her position was eliminated in July 2008. Previously, Ms. Cano spent several years working
in multicultural marketing and sales roles for Sierra Nevada Brewery Co. and MKTG, a marketing services firm.
Ms. Cano, 33, earned an M.B.A. from Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business in 2006.
She's now a communications consultant living in Washington D.C.

Brian Fetterolf lost his real estate investment banking position
with Macquarie Capital Advisors in March. He had been a senior vice president there for 18 months.
Previously, Mr. Fetterolf, 38, was a director at Lasalle Bank Corp. He earned a J.D. from Boston College in 1996 and an M.B.A.
from the University of Pittsburgh's Katz Graduate School of Business in 2002.
Mr. Fetterolf lives with his wife and three children in the suburbs of Chicago.
In July 2009, Mr. Fetterolf started a corporate counsel position at TriState Capital Bank.

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